fall

1. To drop or come down freely under the influence of gravity: Leaves fell from the tree.

2.

a. To drop oneself to a lower or less erect position: I fell back in my chair. The pilgrims fell to their knees.

b. To lose an upright or erect position suddenly: tripped and fell.

c. To drop wounded or dead, especially in battle.

3.

a. To hang down: The child's hair fell in ringlets.

b. To be cast down: Her eyes fell.

c. To be directed toward or come into contact; rest: My gaze fell upon the letter. The light fell on my book.

4.

a. To come into existence or occur as if by falling: A plague fell on the town. Night fell quickly.

b. To occur at a specified time or place: The holiday falls on a Thursday. The stress falls on the last syllable.

5.

a. To be removed as if by falling: All grief fell from our hearts.

b. To come forth as if by falling; issue: Did any thanks fall from their lips?

6. To assume an expression of consternation or disappointment: His face fell when he heard the report.

7.

a. To undergo conquest or capture, especially as the result of an armed attack: The city fell after a long siege.

b. To experience defeat or ruin: The home team fell to the visitors. After 300 years the dynasty fell.

c. To lose office: The disgraced prime minister fell from power.

8.

a. To move downward to a lower level; be reduced: The tide fell.

b. To slope downward: The land falls gently toward the sea.

9.

a. To become less in amount or degree: The air pressure is falling.

b. To diminish in pitch or volume: My friend's voice fell to a whisper.

c. To decline in financial value: Last year, stocks fell sharply.

10.

a. To give into temptation; suffer a moral lapse.

b. Theology To lose primordial innocence and happiness. Used of humanity as a result of the Fall.

11. To pass into a particular state, condition, or situation: fell silent; fall in love.

12. To come, as by chance: fell among a band of thieves.

13.

a. To be given by assignment or distribution: The greatest task fell to me.

b. To be given by right or inheritance.

14. To be included within the range or scope of something: The specimens fall into three categories.

15. To apply oneself: fell to work immediately.

16. To be born. Used chiefly of lambs.

v.tr.

To cut down (a tree); fell.

n.

1. The act or an instance of falling.

2. A sudden drop from a relatively erect to a less erect position.

3.

a. Something that has fallen: a fall of snow.

b. An amount that has fallen: a fall of two inches of rain.

c. The distance that something falls: The victim suffered a fall of three stories to the ground.

4. Autumn.

5. falls(used with a sing. or pl. verb) A waterfall.

6. A downward movement or slope.

7. Any of several pendent articles of dress, especially:

a. A veil hung from a woman's hat and down her back.

b. An ornamental cascade of lace or trimming attached to a dress, usually at the collar.

c. A woman's hairpiece with long, free-hanging hair.

8.

a. An overthrow; a collapse: the fall of a government.

b. Armed capture of a place under siege: the fall of Troy.

9.

a. A reduction in value, amount, or degree: a fall in housing prices.

b. A marked, often sudden, decline in status, rank, or importance: his fall from power.

10.

a. A moral lapse.

b. often FallTheology The loss of humanity's original innocence and happiness resulting from Adam and Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

11. Sports

a. The act of holding a wrestling opponent on his or her back so that the shoulders remain in contact with the mat for a designated period, usually one or two seconds, thereby winning the match. Also called pin.

b. Any of various wrestling maneuvers resulting in such an act.

12. Nautical

a. A break or rise in the level of a deck.

b. falls The apparatus used to hoist and transfer cargo or lifeboats.

13. The end of a cable, rope, or chain that is pulled by the power source in hoisting.

14.

a. The birth of an animal, especially a lamb.

b. All the animals born at one birth; a litter.

c. A family of woodcock in flight.

15. Botany One of the outer, drooping segments of a flower, especially an iris.

adj.

1. Of, having to do with, occurring in, or appropriate to the season of fall: fall fashion; fall harvests.

2. Grown during the season of fall: fall crops.

Phrasal Verbs:

fall apart

1. To break down; collapse: The rickety chair fell apart.

2. To suffer a nervous breakdown or become unable to cope: He fell apart after years as a POW.

fall away

1. To diminish gradually in size, amount, or intensity: The sound of the car fell away into the distance.

2. To change from an established course or activity: I fell away from my school work and spent more time writing.

3. To drop off or become steeper at a distance.

fall back

1. To give ground; retreat.

2. To recede: The waves fell back.

fall behind

1. To fail to keep up a pace; lag behind.

2. To be financially in arrears.

fall down

To fail to meet expectations; lag in performance: fell down on the job.

fall for

1. To feel love for; be in love with.

2. To be deceived or swindled by: fell for the con artist's scheme and lost $200,000.

fall in

1. To take one's place in a military formation.

2. To sink inward; cave in: The roof of the old barn fell in.

fall off

1. To become less; decrease: Stock prices have fallen off. The number of staff meetings fell off after a few months.

2. To lose weight. Used of livestock: Toward the end of the dry season, the cattle fall off rapidly.

3. Nautical To change course to leeward.

fall on (or upon)

1. To attack suddenly and viciously: Snipers and irregulars fell on the hapless patrol.

2. To meet with; encounter: a stockbroker who fell on hard times.

fall out

1.

a. To leave a barracks, for example, in order to take one's place in a military formation.

b. To leave a military formation.

2. To quarrel: The siblings fell out over their inheritance.

3. To happen; occur: What fell out while we were gone?

4. To be readily explainable; follow logically or naturally: These facts fall out nicely from the new theory.

fall through

To fail; miscarry: Our plans fell through at the last minute.

fall to

To begin an activity energetically: "The press fell to with a will"(Russell Baker).

Idioms:

fall back on/upon

1. To rely on: fall back on old friends in time of need.

2. To resort to: I had to fall back on my savings when I was unemployed.

fall between (the) two stools

To fail because of an inability to reconcile or choose between two courses of action.

fall flat

1. To fail miserably when attempting to achieve a result.

2. To have no effect: The jokes fell flat.

fall foul/afoul

1. Nautical To collide. Used of vessels.

2. To clash: fell foul of the law.

fall from grace

To experience a major reduction in status or prestige.

fall into line

To adhere to established rules or predetermined courses of action.

fall in with

1. To agree with or be in harmony with: Their views fall in with ours.

2. To associate or begin to associate with: fell in with the wrong crowd.

fall on deaf ears

To go unheeded; be ignored completely: "Moscow's own familiar charges ... will also fall on deaf ears"(Foreign Affairs).

fall over backward/backwards

To overexert oneself to do or accomplish something: We fell over backward to complete the project on time.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English feallan; c. Old Frisian, Old Norse falla, Old Saxon, Old High German fallan]

Fall

the quantity born or produced at one time or within a certain period. See also brood, cast, clutch.

Examples: fall of hail; of lambs, 1796; of meteors; of rain; of snow; of spawn; of woodcocks, 1430.

fall

Fall can be a verb or a noun.

1. used as a verb

When something falls, it moves quickly towards the ground by accident. The past tense of fall is fell. The -ed participle is fallen.

The cup fell from her hand and broke.

Several napkins had fallen to the floor.

When rain or snow falls, it comes down from the sky.

Rain was beginning to fall.

When someone who is standing or walking falls, they drop downwards so that they are kneeling or lying on the ground.

She fell and hurt her leg.

In conversation, you don't usually say that someone 'falls'. You say that they fall down or fall over.

He fell down in the mud.

He fell over backwards and lay completely still.

You can also say that a tall object falls down or falls over.

The pile of books fell down and scattered all over the floor.

A tree fell over in the storm.

Be Careful!Fall is an intransitive verb. You can't say that someone 'falls' something. Don't say, for example, 'She screamed and fell the tray'. You say 'She screamed and dropped the tray'.

He bumped into a chair and dropped his plate.

Careful! Don't drop it!

Be Careful!Similarly, don't say that someone 'falls' a person. Don't say, for example, 'He bumped into the girl and fell her'. You say 'He bumped into the girl and knocked her down' or 'He bumped into the girl and knocked her over'.

I nearly knocked down a person at the bus stop.

I got knocked over by a car when I was six.

2. used as a noun

Fall can also be a noun. If you have a fall, you lose your balance and drop on to the ground, hurting yourself.

takedown - (amateur wrestling) being brought to the mat from a standing position; "a takedown counts two points"

triumph, victory - a successful ending of a struggle or contest; "a narrow victory"; "the general always gets credit for his army's victory"; "clinched a victory"; "convincing victory"; "the agreement was a triumph for common sense"

11.

fall - a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity; "it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height"

precipitation - the act of casting down or falling headlong from a height

12.

fall - a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity; "a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index"; "there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery"; "a dip in prices"; "when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall"

correction - a drop in stock market activity or stock prices following a period of increases; "market runups are invariably followed by a correction"

voltage drop - a decrease in voltage along a conductor through which current is flowing

Verb

1.

fall - descend in free fall under the influence of gravity; "The branch fell from the tree"; "The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse"

go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast"

prolapse - slip or fall out of place, as of body parts; "prolapsed rectum"

go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast"

abseil, rappel, rope down - lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside; "The ascent was easy--roping down the mountain would be much more difficult and dangerous"; "You have to learn how to abseil when you want to do technical climbing"

cave in, collapse, fall in, give way, founder, give, break - break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"

fall - pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind; "fall into a trap"; "She fell ill"; "They fell out of favor"; "Fall in love"; "fall asleep"; "fall prey to an imposter"; "fall into a strange way of thinking"; "she fell to pieces after she lost her work"

change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"

drop - fall or sink into a state of exhaustion or death; "shop til you drop"

fall in love - begin to experience feelings of love towards; "She fell in love with her former student"

fall - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"

leave office, step down, quit, resign - give up or retire from a position; "The Secretary of the Navy will leave office next month"; "The chairman resigned over the financial scandal"

fall - die, as in battle or in a hunt; "Many soldiers fell at Verdun"; "Several deer have fallen to the same gun"; "The shooting victim fell dead"

14.

fall - to be given by assignment or distribution; "The most difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team"; "The onus fell on us"; "The pressure to succeed fell on the youngest student"

light, fall - fall to somebody by assignment or lot; "The task fell to me"; "It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims"

fall - to be given by right or inheritance; "The estate fell to the oldest daughter"

15.

fall - move in a specified direction; "The line of men fall forward"

go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast"

16.

fall - be due; "payments fall on the 1st of the month"

fall - occur at a specified time or place; "Christmas falls on a Monday this year"; "The accent falls on the first syllable"

be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"

begin, commence, set out, start, start out, set about, get down, get - take the first step or steps in carrying out an action; "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now"

fall for someonefall in love with, become infatuated with, be smitten by, be swept off your feet by, desire, fancy(Brit. informal), succumb to the charms of, lose your head overI just fell for him right away.

fall in love with someonelose your heart (to), fall (for), become infatuated (with), be smitten by, fancy(Brit. informal), become attached to, take a fancy to, become fond of, become enamoured of, be swept off your feet (by), conceive an affection forYou fall in love with a man for God knows what reasons.

fall in with someonemake friends with, go around with, become friendly with, hang about with(informal)At University he had fallen in with a small clique of literature students.

2.vi + prephe fell over the table → è inciampato nel tavolino ed è cadutohe was falling over himself or over backwards to be polite (fam) → si faceva in quattro per essere gentilethey were falling over each other to get it (fam) → si accapigliavano per averlo

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